Wednesday, October 31, 2012

I hope everyone has had a Happy Hallowe'en. I had to work today, but I did get dressed up.

Arrrrrr mateys! Technically I was a generic pirate, but most people assumed I was Captain Jack Sparrows from the Pirates of the Caribbean, so I went with it. I've been meaning to post, but life (and work!) keeps getting in the way. I do plan to post on Saturday, as I know I won't be working. So I'll share what little tatting I've gotten done, and my new books, and even the HDT I bought from Jess. It's been snowing a bit here, not much and I'm hoping it melts away for a while. With it being cooler out, I actually feel inspired to start tatting snowflakes. I think this year I'm going to go through all my HDT and use up the "snowflake coloured" ones.

Till next time. Happy Hallowe'en all ye land lubbers!

PS: For anyone interested, I will be offering free shipping in my Etsy shop starting over the next few days. The coupon code on the right side bar still applies. I've also made some, um, price changes.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

This will be just a quick post. Karen Bickerton, from KB Design Originals, has a special offer for anyone following my blog. When you purchase any of her patterns from her shop, mention me and/or my geckos, and she'll include a bonus pattern. She didn't say if/when the offer will expire, so if interested, don't hesitate. She has her Frilled Lizard pattern listed now, for anyone interested.

I'll hopefully do a regular post soon. I have been tatting, mainly on the Pineapple doily. A couple new books arrived in the mail too, which I'd like to share. Till next time.

Monday, October 8, 2012

I decided to take a bit of a break from tatting geckos. I really like the look of the tatted pineapple doily that Umintsuru has been tatting lately. Any of them. In case you are wondering, I haven't really been working on much else lately, except the doily. Apart from some "issues", I'm enjoying tatting this. It's been a while since I've tatted something I don't have to think about. Before I move on, I would like to mention that the motif that I had rewrote the pattern for from the previous post, can be found in the book The Tatters Treasure Chest edited by Mary Carolyn Waldrep. Here the motif is called Wild Rose. The second motif I rewrote (but haven't tatted yet) is there as well. All patterns are still in long notation. Thanks Stephanie!

I've always liked the many crocheted pineapple designs that are out there. I am pleased that there are a number of designs for tatting. The doily, called Pineapple Heaven is by Doretha Albee. Before I go any further, I should mention that I'm not done yet.

See. This is the first 10 rounds of the doily. I'm actually further along than shown here. I scanned it a few days ago, and I've been working on it since. Like I said, I'm really enjoying tatting the doily except for one little problem. It started to cup. Not severely, but enough that it was a problem. I'm pretty sure it's because I am a rather tight tatter. At least compared to Umintsuru and Ms. Albee. I think if/when I tat this doily again, I'll add a ds or two to the chains that are before and after the "shells" to try to prevent the cupping. I blocked what I had done before posting, and it did help. I think my long picots are a tad too long, but I don't know if that would cause a problem. I'm tatting this doily for my mom, so I used some purple thread. This is Lizbeth size 20 #633.

That's about it for now. I probably going to keep working on the doily until I'm done before going back the finished the last gecko-it's about 1/4 done. My shop's been quiet lately, so unless the sales come flying in, I probably won't work on chainmaille this week. I made up a list a few weeks ago of items I'd like to make (more bracelets, some wallet chains, other things for the guys), but I haven't really looked at it. Till next time.